Is there still a Freesat from Sky card..

zaphodbeeb

... that you can buy as a one-off that just gives the FTA channels in the correct order for the region?

-ZB

icdg

Yes, it’s still available. UK only of course, and costs £25 if you already have Sky equipment (or you can buy a Sky HD digibox for £254 - Sky Q not supported apparently).

Why you would go for it over normal Freesat, I don’t know, except if you already have Sky equipment and no other FTA equipment you’d save I guess. It used to be that you could pick up FTV channels but apparently 4Music and Yesterday+1 are the only ones left.

zaphodbeeb

I have a Scotland free to view card that mostly lists the channels the way I want.

I'm not that bothered that BBC1 Scotland is at 101 etc but having UTV etc as other channels is a bit of a pain.

I'd be all for a Freesat box but I think I'm right in saying that Channel 4 HD (and other non Freesat but free to air channels) has to be added with Freesat mode switched off, which (again as I understand it) instantly reverts the entire box out of Freesat mode so 7 day EPG, timed recordings, possibly channel order etc all go.

If there's a Freesat box that you can leave in Freesat mode and just add channels manually that aren't Freesat while STAYING in freesat mode I'd be all over that.

I can see why people go with the basic Sky package with HD. Unordered channels / channels added with Other channels and cards that you don't have the pin to to get into other channels in the first place is a PIA.

Thanks in advance for any help! Total newbie :-)

-ZB

zaphodbeeb

Also oddly, it can't seem to pick up either UTV HD or STV (I think Scottish ITV) - all other channels perfect. Wondering if my dish might be a tiny bit mis-aligned?

-ZB

zaphodbeeb

I think the Left/Right and Up/Down settings were spot on, didn't realise the LNB itself needed to be rotated to the correct setting.

Got a satellite signal meter and connected to sky box while I tweaked it, all good now.

-ZB

Johnboy1951

zaphodbeeb wrote: »

I have a Scotland free to view card that mostly lists the channels the way I want.

I'm not that bothered that BBC1 Scotland is at 101 etc but having UTV etc as other channels is a bit of a pain.

I'd be all for a Freesat box but I think I'm right in saying that Channel 4 HD (and other non Freesat but free to air channels) has to be added with Freesat mode switched off, which (again as I understand it) instantly reverts the entire box out of Freesat mode so 7 day EPG, timed recordings, possibly channel order etc all go.

If there's a Freesat box that you can leave in Freesat mode and just add channels manually that aren't Freesat while STAYING in freesat mode I'd be all over that.

I can see why people go with the basic Sky package with HD. Unordered channels / channels added with Other channels and cards that you don't have the pin to to get into other channels in the first place is a PIA.

Thanks in advance for any help! Total newbie :-)

-ZB

Forget about Freesat or Sky, get a Free to Air set up, and arrange all the channels in the order you wish.
Only list those channels you watch.
No limitations on channels like applied by Freesat, and no limitations on channel listing.

Yes such freedom requires some effort on the user's part.

Digifriendly

I use favourites with Sky and put channels in order of my preference. Unsure if Sky HD is as good as Sky Q (which I have) in this respect but I rarely use full epg now.

galtee boy

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

zaphodbeeb wrote: »

I have a Scotland free to view card that mostly lists the channels the way I want.

I'm not that bothered that BBC1 Scotland is at 101 etc but having UTV etc as other channels is a bit of a pain.

I'd be all for a Freesat box but I think I'm right in saying that Channel 4 HD (and other non Freesat but free to air channels) has to be added with Freesat mode switched off, which (again as I understand it) instantly reverts the entire box out of Freesat mode so 7 day EPG, timed recordings, possibly channel order etc all go.

If there's a Freesat box that you can leave in Freesat mode and just add channels manually that aren't Freesat while STAYING in freesat mode I'd be all over that.

I can see why people go with the basic Sky package with HD. Unordered channels / channels added with Other channels and cards that you don't have the pin to to get into other channels in the first place is a PIA.

Thanks in advance for any help! Total newbie :-)

-ZB

Forget about Freesat or Sky, get a Free to Air set up, and arrange all the channels in the order you wish.
Only list those channels you watch.
No limitations on channels like applied by Freesat, and no limitations on channel listing.

Yes such freedom requires some effort on the user's part.

FTA is fine, but a major drawback is no 7 day epg. And before you say it, linux boxes and downloading/installing 7 day epg/skins etc is beyond most ordinary users out there and for some reason, you cannot buy a plug and play linux box with all the work already done.

m8

Can you get a card for Ireland like this, IE RTE's?

dulpit

m8 wrote: »

Can you get a card for Ireland like this, IE RTE's?

No, RTE is not FTA on regular satellite, you can only get it FTA over Saorview or Saorsat.

m8

I'm sure that at some stage SKY done a card that had a 1 off fee to get RTE's on Astra as freeview.

Johnboy1951

galtee boy wrote: »

FTA is fine, but a major drawback is no 7 day epg. And before you say it, linux boxes and downloading/installing 7 day epg/skins etc is beyond most ordinary users out there and for some reason, you cannot buy a plug and play linux box with all the work already done.

FTA is more than 'fine'.
The lack of a 7 day EPG on commercial offerings is indeed a drawback ...... but maybe not as "major" as is generally portrayed in these threads.

From a usability point of view, a user who is incapable of following a set of instructions to install a plugin which enables 7 day EPG on a 'Linux box' would also likely be incapable of following instructions to manage their series recordings etc. etc. regardless the platform they use.
Why do you think this imaginary 'ordinary user' would want or need to download and change skins etc? Do you expect people who use an old Sky box and FTV card to do this too?

It is apparent from the market that FTA boxes, which have no 7 day EPG and no means to change skins etc are very popular.
Certainly more popular than any Sky box plus UK FTV card, for users who do not already have old hardware they do not want to dump.
Quite a percentage of TV viewers do not even have a means of recording, nor apparently need that function.

It is one thing to consider the most capable system, and quite another to consider the actual needs of the individual customer.

TheIrishGrover

galtee boy wrote: »

FTA is fine, but a major drawback is no 7 day epg. And before you say it, linux boxes and downloading/installing 7 day epg/skins etc is beyond most ordinary users out there and for some reason, you cannot buy a plug and play linux box with all the work already done.

Most TVs from LG and Samsung have built in Satellite inputs. Instead of selecting Astra or whatever, select Freesat. This gives you the full 7 day EPG. Sure, you can't rearrange the channel numbers but you can select favourites and order them how you want.

I had a dedicated satellite box but got rid of it. Now, whenever I get a new TV I make sure it has built in Satellite input.

lertsnim

m8 wrote: »

I'm sure that at some stage SKY done a card that had a 1 off fee to get RTE's on Astra as freeview.

RTE, TV3 and TG4 have only ever been available on Sky as part of a monthly subscription.